Penguin: 1. Killer whale: 0.
Matt Karsten, 40, and his wife Anna, 32, have captured poignant images of a gentoo penguin narrowly escaping the jaws of a pair of hungry orcas in Antarctica.
The Karstens were watching whales aboard a dinghy in the Gerlache Strait, near the tip of Antarctica, when they saw a penguin rushing through their ship – followed by a group of orcas close behind.
For several nail-biting minutes, tourists watched as the penguin struggled to evade some of the ocean’s fiercest predators, known to feed on the ratites, as well as fish, seals, and even sharks.
But just when frightened passengers were sure the penguin was ready, he emerged from the water in a jump toward the dinghy and eventually helped board a successful orca escape – and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the travelers.
“It was great to see it in person. It was like watching an episode of National Geographic on location, ”Karsten, a travel writer from Yucatan, Mexico, told Kennedy News Agency. “I imagine the penguin was very relieved when he got away.”
The Antarctic travelers were touring the icebergs when they first saw the group of orcas “playing in the water next to us” that Karsten began filming.
They swam straight to the camera and said hello, he added. But their interest in his camera quickly ceased when they began to chase the gentoo penguin.
They went back and forth with the penguin who swam quickly with the orcas in his path. In the end, the poor penguin tried to jump into a nearby zodiac boat, ”he said, referring to the dinghy.
The penguin’s second attempt to land in the boat was a success, although the whales had a hard time giving up immediately.
“The orcas have followed the zodiac boat for a while,” said Karsten. “After sailing for a while, the penguin said goodbye to the boat and jumped back into the icy water,” he told Kennedy News.